Description

Dracula (Universal, 1931). One Sheet (27" X 41") Style
F.

In 1897, Irish author Bram Stoker wrote Dracula,
the story of a mysterious Transylvanian Count who was also a
centuries-old vampire. Although not an immediate popular success,
the book received considerable critical praise, and spawned several
stage adaptations, most notably a version by actor Hamilton Deane
and playwright John Balderston that toured England for several
years beginning in 1924. When the play came to Broadway in 1927,
the lead role of Dracula was assigned to an unknown Hungarian actor
named Bela Lugosi, for which he received overwhelming acclaim from
the day's theater critics.
Nevertheless, when Universal Pictures' new studio head Carl Laemmle
Jr. announced his intentions to bring a version of the popular play
to the silver screen - over the vehement objections of his father,
studio founder Carl Laemmle Sr. - Lugosi was far from his first
choice to portray the lead role. Other, more bankable actors such
as Ian Keith, Paul Muni, Conrad Veidt, Joseph Schildkraut, and
Chester Morris, were all deemed more desirable for the part. It was
only after the studio determined that Lugosi was desperate enough
for the role to work cheaply that they awarded him the plum
assignment. In the end, Lugosi received a mere $500 a week for
seven weeks work, far from the $2,000 per week received by David
Manners, who played Jonathan Harker in a bland and forgettable
role. The result was a screen blockbuster, selling more than 50,000
tickets in its first 48 hours of release at New York's Roxy Theater
alone, and grossing nearly $700,000 in its first domestic release
against a budget of $355,000. In its wake, Dracula would not
only make a star of leading man Bela Lugosi, but would usher in
Universal's immensely popular - and profitable - franchise of
gothic horror films. It is, by any definition, a landmark film, and
original paper promoting it is in high demand by collectors
worldwide. This lovely Style F stone litho one sheet, with its
stunning image of Count Dracula aboard the Vespa en route to
London, is a real gem. In March 2009, Heritage sold another copy of
this style, from the collection of Nicolas Cage, which realized
more than $310,000. At the time, it was noted that the copy offered
was one of only three known. The discovery of the poster in this
auction brings that grand total to four known to exist in the
entire world. The poster had a tear in the upper white border that
extends into the image within the green field between Dracula's
raised fist and the moon behind him, with a tiny fleck of missing
paper at the intersection of the border and the green field. There
was tear from the left border into the "D" in "Dracula" and down
into the black of the cape. There was two tears in the right border
that extend just into the image and there were pinholes in the
upper two corners of the artwork. The bottom white border was
trimmed just below the black line which delineates the image from
the border so no color image was lost and the entire image and all
borders were intact other than the lower border. Through careful
professional restoration all of these issues discussed were
beautifully restored. The colors on the poster are as vibrant as
the day it was printed and have not been altered at all. Few
posters combine the high degrees of rarity, desirability, and sheer
artistic beauty like this scarce showpiece. Any collection, no
matter how advanced, will be enhanced by the addition of this
almost impossible-to-find gem, a piece of film history sure to be
coveted by everyone who appreciates classic film. From the
Berwick Discovery. Fine+ on Linen.